Big thanks to Lauren Sugarman, a real estate agent in Los Angeles for this guest post!
The digital era of real estate is upon us. Implementing an online strategy into your marketing efforts is crucial to success.
Here are the four most important components of digital marketing: database, website, social media, and a marketing calendar.
1. Database: If you haven’t already, now is the time to create your database and maintain it. E-mail marketing is one of the most effective lead generators and way to stay top-of-mind. Think about the kind of email marketing campaigns you send out and categorize your contacts accordingly.
If you haven’t already, now is the time to create your database and maintain it.
For example, to whom do you send your monthly newsletter? Which Realtors do you target when you send out an e-blast showcasing your latest pocket listing? Examples of organized contact groups include, but are not limited to:
- Past clients
- Present clients
- Prospects
- High-end Realtors in ____ (your city)
An e-blast showcasing your latest pocket listing will most likely be sent out to Realtors in your neighborhood. A monthly newsletter that includes a blog post, market report and/or holiday greeting will most likely be sent to groups of past and present clients, as well as prospects.
2. Website: In this technology-driven real estate era, you need a website. No excuses. At the very least, your site acts as your virtual resume and business card, where prospects can contact you and convert to leads. At its best, your site showcases your gorgeous past and present listings, has an awesome SEO-rich blog that drives traffic to your site and showcases your real-estate expertise.
Your site acts as your virtual resume and business card.
For as little as ten dollars a month, you can set up a site through Placester, Wix and WordPress without any knowledge of coding or website building. If your budget allows, outsource the creation of your web site to an experienced professional. Don’t forget about the all-important landing page! Create your landing page with a specific goal in mind, whether it be converting buyer or seller leads, or getting visitors to download your e-book or other specific calls to action.
3. Social Media: Social media is an effective and interactive medium to establish yourself as a neighborhood expert as well as showcase your personality and expertise. Don’t just use social media to announce your listings. Use the various platforms to broadcast your blog posts and link to information relevant to your target audience, such as market reports and trends.
Social media is an effective and interactive medium to establish yourself as a neighborhood expert.
Social-media platforms:
- Facebook: Set up an Official Business Page and explore running Facebook ad campaigns to increase your visibility on the site.
- Instagram: Have fun with filters and don’t forget to “check in” to the location of your photograph. This makes it easier for you to be discovered by new users.
- LinkedIn: The “summary” section of your profile is the perfect place to list your top accomplishments, successes, and any special certifications you have earned. Be sure to get reviewed and endorsed by colleagues, clients and other professionals whom you have worked with. Potential and current clients love social proof!
4. Marketing Calendar: Knowing the ins and outs of a digital strategy is useless unless it is put into action. Plan, plan, plan! Create a marketing calendar in which you plan when you will send out your monthly e-newsletters and campaigns.
Create a marketing calendar to stay organized and on track.
Also, include your social-media posts: know how frequently you plan to post and feel free to prepare some content in advance (using Hootsuite or Buffer). For example, if you will be publishing a blog post about spring-cleaning, plan the social media posts about the article in advance. When you publish your article on the selected day in your marketing calendar, your social media will be published concurrently as well. If you know your company will be hosting a charitable event in February, plan to send out an e-newsletter to your clients a few weeks before, highlighting your involvement in the charitable cause.
- Plan your email campaigns in advance: use Mailchimp or Constant Contact
Throughout the year, be sure to research the performance of your digital media strategy. What posts got the most likes? What time of day do your tweets perform highest? Which email campaigns had the highest click-through rate? Which blog post was the most read?
- Analyze your digital media: See what drives the most traffic to your web site using Google Analytics. Both Facebook Business Pages and Twitter offer their own analytic services. The “Pro” versions of social media planning tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer also offer their own analytic reports based on social media performance.
I’d love your thoughts on your digital strategy – leave me a comment below!
Lauren Sugarman is a real estate agent in her home town of Los Angeles. When she’s not working or posting pictures on Instagram, she can be found hiking, going to museums, and painting.
